Submission Deadline Reminder: ProjectWorld & World Congress for Business Analysts Call for Papers

INDUSTRY ALERT: OFFICIAL CALL FOR PRESENTERS 

Papers are being accepted on a rolling basis, we suggest you submit your proposal as early as possible. If this is something you're interested in considering, please let us know as sessions fill up quickly. 

The Institute for International Research (IIR) is currently seeking corporate practitioners, authors and experienced facilitators to present at the 2013 ProjectWorld® & World Congress for Business Analysts® conference. The event will take place September 9-11, 2013 at Disney's Contemporary Resort in Orlando, FL.

About this unique event: PW&WCBA is the industry's year round resource for gaining cutting-edge insights through C-Level case studies & corporate best practice presentations, exclusive Web Seminars, Learning Labs, and facilitated sharing sessions.

Who and what are we looking for? 
Leaders of high profile, complex projects to share their story in an open forum with industry peers. We are also inviting highly experienced, unbiased project managers, program managers, portfolio managers, PMO heads, system engineers and business analysts. We are particularly interested in experienced corporate practitioners, industry experts and qualified facilitators sharing innovative case studies, techniques, templates that attendees can implements as soon as they get back to the office. Each presentation should demonstrate actionable tangible takeaways.

Please note: Decisions will be based on the alignment of the content with the 2013 agenda content, feedback from the event advisors as well as on industry recognition and/or personal references.

We expect our speakers to move beyond the fundamentals.

2013 Presentation Topic Areas include, but are not limited to: 
• Systems Integration
• What's New in Agile?
• Agile, Tools and Metric Tracking
• Cloud Risk: Managing the Risk and Rewards of Cloud Computing
• Defining and Developing the Next Generation of PMs
• Improving the Value of Your PMO
• IT Portfolio Management
• Soft Leadership Skills
• Risk Management
• Building Program Management Expertise
• Motivating Teams and Increasing Team Performance
• Creating a Center of Excellence (Both BA and/or PM)
• Demonstrating the Current Value of Project Management and Business Analysis to Your Organization
• Career Paths for the BA and PM - Where Do You Go After 5 Years?
• Using Six Sigma and LEAN to Improve Project Management
• Requirements Management and Communication
• Funding Models in a Tight Financial Market
• Leading Global Teams
• Change Management
• Reading Verbal and Non-Verbal Cues
• Virtual Engagement
• Lightweight Project Management Tools vs. Heavyweight
• Enterprise Analysis
• Enterprise Architecture
• The Mechanics of Business Process Modeling
• Negotiation Skills for Dealing with Suppliers
• Improved Elicitation Techniques
• Developing Excellent Scoping Skills
• Agile Project Management • A Systematic Approach to Increase Business Process Performance
• Improving Service Levels with Your Stakeholders
• Business Analysis Planning and Monitoring
• Developing a PM Toolkit: The Essentials
• Implementing a Portfolio Management
• Risk Management
• Estimating and Identification of Requirements
• Business Rules: An Important Technique to Capture and Discover What You Need
• Green Practices for the PM and BA
• Getting the Benefits of Consolidating, But Without Doing So
• The Current and Future State of the BA
• Identify and Retain the Best and the Brightest
• Agile: Governance and Decision-Making
• Sustainable Portfolio Management Practices
• Development Techniques that are Flexible and Responsive
• SOA Governance
• Integrating the Business Architecture with Human Performance

BONUS: In addition to the exposure and honor of being a speaker, speakers will also receive FREE admission to the conference, access to the post-conference web seminar series as well as any pre-conference activities ($3,000+ value).

How to Get Accepted:
Priority will be given to presentations that highlight NEW case studies on pushing beyond the PMBOK and BABOK, presenting new skills, techniques and best practices for today's PM and BA worlds. ONLY corporate/client-side speaker will be considered. If you are a consultant, solution provider, technology provider, analyst or consultant, please see sponsorship/exhibit section below.

Interested in sponsoring or exhibiting?
If you are a vendor or solution provider and are interested in showcasing your organization's expertise - Please contact Jon Saxe, Senior Business Development Manager at jsaxe@iirusa.com or 646-895-7467 for more information.

If you were not selected to present and are a vendor or solution provider, you may qualify for additional speaking opportunities available through sponsorship.

CALL FOR PRESENTERS:
For consideration, please e-mail abaranick@iirusa.com with the following information by Friday, January, 18, 2013:
• Proposed speaker name, job title, and company name
• Contact information including address, telephone and e-mail
• Title of Presentation (one line, benefit focused)
• A brief summary of content to be delivered (no more than 75 words), followed by 3 bullet points of what the audience will gain from your presentation (key audience takeaways)
• Previous conference speaking opportunities for the last 3 years
• Short bio of speaker (50-75 words)
• Two references with contact information
NOTE: If your proposal is selected, portions of this submission will be printed in the brochure.

Additional Details:
• Commercialism and self-promotion are NOT permitted or tolerated. If this happens, you will NOT be invited to return as a speaker.
• Travel, lodging and other expenses are the responsibility of the speaker.

Thank you for your interest in PW&WCBA. Please visit www.projectworld.com for more information.

* Due to the high volume of submissions, only accepted speakers will be notified. If you are accepted you will be notified by February 12, 2013.

Best,
The ProjectWorld® & World Congress for Business Analysts Team

Follow us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/Project_World
 Become a Fan on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PWWCBA

Guide the Future of PW&WCBA!

Time is running out to share your feedback and help us develop the ProjectWorld® & World Congress for Business Analysts® 2013 program. We are working to get as many insights as possible this week.

All we ask is for 15 minutes of your time before the end of the week. Anyone who participates in a phone call will be entered to win one pass to the exclusive 2013 webinar series, where you can earn up to 12 PDUs.

Please email the PW&WCBA Producer, Alex Baranick (abaranick@iirusa.com) to set up time for the call.

This offer will only last until 5pm EST, Friday, December 21!

Call for Presenters Now Open: ProjectWorld & World Congress for Business Analysts 2013

INDUSTRY ALERT: OFFICIAL CALL FOR PRESENTERS 

Papers are being accepted on a rolling basis, we suggest you submit your proposal as early as possible.

The Institute for International Research (IIR) is currently seeking corporate practitioners, authors and experienced facilitators to present at the 2013 ProjectWorld® & World Congress for Business Analysts® conference.

The event will take place September 9-11, 2012 at Disney's Contemporary Resort in Orlando, FL.

About this unique event: PW&WCBA is the industry's year round resource for gaining cutting-edge insights through C-Level case studies & corporate best practice presentations, exclusive Web Seminars, Learning Labs, and facilitated sharing sessions.

Who and what are we looking for? Leaders of high profile, complex projects to share their story in an open forum with industry peers. We are also inviting highly experienced, unbiased project managers, program managers, portfolio managers, PMO heads, system engineers and business analysts. We are particularly interested in experienced corporate practitioners, industry experts and qualified facilitators sharing innovative case studies, techniques, templates that attendees can implements as soon as they get back to the office. Each presentation should demonstrate actionable tangible takeaways.

Please note: Decisions will be based on the alignment of the content with the 2012 agenda content, feedback from the event advisers as well as on industry recognition and/or personal references.

We expect our speakers to move beyond the fundamentals.

2013 Presentation Topic Areas include, but are not limited to:
• Systems Integration
• What's New in Agile?
• Agile, Tools and Metric Tracking
• Cloud Risk: Managing the Risk and Rewards of Cloud Computing
• Defining and Developing the Next Generation of PMs
• Improving the Value of Your PMO
• IT Portfolio Management
• Soft Leadership Skills
• Risk Management
• Building Program Management Expertise
• Motivating Teams and Increasing Team Performance
• Creating a Center of Excellence (Both BA and/or PM)
• Demonstrating the Current Value of Project Management and Business Analysis to Your Organization
• Career Paths for the BA and PM - Where Do You Go After 5 Years?
• Using Six Sigma and LEAN to Improve Project Management
• Requirements Management and Communication
• Funding Models in a Tight Financial Market
• Leading Global Teams
• Change Management
• Reading Verbal and Non-Verbal Cues
• Virtual Engagement
• Lightweight Project Management Tools vs. Heavyweight
• Enterprise Analysis
• Enterprise Architecture
• The Mechanics of Business Process Modeling
• Negotiation Skills for Dealing with Suppliers
• Improved Elicitation Techniques
• Developing Excellent Scoping Skills
• Agile Project Management
• A Systematic Approach to Increase Business Process Performance
• Improving Service Levels with Your Stakeholders
• Business Analysis Planning and Monitoring
• Developing a PM Toolkit: The Essentials
• Implementing a Portfolio Management
• Risk Management
• Estimating and Identification of Requirements
• Business Rules: An Important Technique to Capture and Discover What You Need
• Green Practices for the PM and BA
• Getting the Benefits of Consolidating, But Without Doing So
• The Current and Future State of the BA
• Identify and Retain the Best and the Brightest
• Agile: Governance and Decision-Making
• Sustainable Portfolio Management Practices
• Development Techniques that are Flexible and Responsive
• SOA Governance
• Integrating the Business Architecture with Human Performance

BONUS: In addition to the exposure and honor of being a speaker, speakers will also receive FREE admission to the conference, access to the post-conference web seminar series as well as any pre-conference activities ($3,000+ value).

How to Get Accepted:
Priority will be given to presentations that highlight NEW case studies on pushing beyond the PMBOK and BABOK, presenting new skills, techniques and best practices for today's PM and BA worlds. ONLY corporate/client-side speaker will be considered. If you are a consultant, solution provider, technology provider, analyst or consultant, please see sponsorship/exhibit section below.

Interested in sponsoring or exhibiting?
If you are a vendor or solution provider and are interested in showcasing your organization's expertise - Please contact Jon Saxe, Senior Business Development Manager at jsaxe@iirusa.com or 646-895-7467 for more information.
If you were not selected to present and are a vendor or solution provider, you may qualify for additional speaking opportunities available through sponsorship.

CALL FOR PRESENTERS:
For consideration, please e-mail abaranick@iirusa.com with the following information by Friday, January, 18, 2013:
• Proposed speaker name, job title, and company name
• Contact information including address, telephone and e-mail
• Title of Presentation (one line, benefit focused)
• A brief summary of content to be delivered (no more than 75 words), followed by 3 bullet points of what the audience will gain from your presentation (key audience takeaways)
• Previous conference speaking opportunities for the last 3 years
• Short bio of speaker (50-75 words)
• Two references with contact information

NOTE: If your proposal is selected, portions of this submission will be printed in the brochure.

Additional Details:
• Commercialism and self-promotion are NOT permitted or tolerated. If this happens, you will NOT be invited to return as a speaker.
• Travel, lodging and other expenses are the responsibility of the speaker.

Thank you for your interest in PW&WCBA. Please visit www.projectworld.com for more information.
* Due to the high volume of submissions, only accepted speakers will be notified. If you are accepted you will be notified by February 12, 2013.

Best,
The ProjectWorld® & World Congress for Business Analysts Team
Follow us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/Project_World

Become a Fan on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PWWCBA

Reminder: Strategy Crafting From the Bottom Up

Last week we were pleased to bring the ProjectWorld and World Congress for Business Analysts community "A Case Study in Virtual Requirements Facilitation" presented by Faith Hickey, Senior Business Analyst, Doreen Evans Associates, Inc. If you missed the live event, check out the recording by registering here: https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/673893081

This week marks our final PW&WCBA webinar of the 2012 fall series and we hope you can join us:
Strategy Crafting From the Bottom Up

Weds, December 12, 2012 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM EST

Register here: https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/582441600

Presented by Jeff Scott, VP/Business & Technology Strategy, Accelare

In theory, strategy development is a top-down activity driven by company executives. In reality, few organizations create well-articulated, actionable strategy. Business analysts, project managers, and business architects can fill their company’s void in strategy development by applying the skills they already have to capture strategic requirements and translate them into strategic imperatives and required capabilities. This session will present a step-by-step process for bottom up strategy crafting.

Key Takeaways Will Include:
• Why strategies die early deaths
• How to focus your organization on the work that matters most
• A framework for strategy discovery

As a reminder, we’re always updating our industry resource page with on-demand webinars and other new content. Stay updated throughout the year by bookmarking:
http://www.iirusa.com/projectworld-info/industry-resources.xml

Best,
The ProjectWorld® & World Congress for Business Analysts Team

Follow us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/Project_World

Become a Fan on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PWWCBA

Your Sneak Peek: PW&WCBA Attendee Webinar Series

As a thank you for being a reader of our ProjectWorld & World Congress for Business Analysts blog, we’d like to invite you to join us for the following sessions in our PW&WCBA attendee webinar series.

A Case Study in Virtual Requirements Facilitation

Thursday, December 6, 2012 1:00 PM - 2:00 PM EST

Register here: https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/673893081

Presented by Faith Hickey, Senior Business Analyst, Doreen Evans Associates, Inc.

Facilitation challenges even the most seasoned business analysts. Encouraging stakeholders to attend, contribute, and stay on topic is difficult. But these problems worsen when the facilitation is virtual. Without visual cues and feedback, attendees don’t stay engaged. Often online participants abandon contributing. This interactive session offers how one organization addressed these issues using techniques such as a view from the future, visualization, a day in the life, and buy a feature.
• Learn tips and strategies to make virtual facilitation sessions fun, collaborative, and productive
• Learn more about promising technologies that leverage social networks and world time zones
• Leave with a proven approach to facing common online business analysis facilitation challenges

Strategy Crafting From the Bottom Up

Weds, December 12, 2012 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM EST

Register here: https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/582441600

Presented by Jeff Scott, VP/Business & Technology Strategy, Accelare

In theory, strategy development is a top-down activity driven by company executives. In reality, few organizations create well-articulated, actionable strategy. Business analysts, project managers, and business architects can fill their company’s void in strategy development by applying the skills they already have to capture strategic requirements and translate them into strategic imperatives and required capabilities. This session will present a step-by-step process for bottom up strategy crafting.
Key Takeaways:
• Why strategies die early deaths
• How to focus your organization on the work that matters most
• A framework for strategy discovery

In addition, we’re always updating our on-demand webinar library on our industry resource page. Visit us online for year-round learning.


Best,
The ProjectWorld® & World Congress for Business Analysts Team

Follow us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/Project_World


Become a Fan on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PWWCBA

Insights from PW&WCBA: Solving The Puzzle With Scrum

As we move forward from the 2012 PW&WCBA event, we'll be looking back at some key lessons learned and trends that popped up during our sessions and sharing some of the takeaways presented in our exclusive Executive Summary. If you attended the event, you may download the executive summary document on Crowdvine.

Via Flickr user Jhritz

One of our most popular sessions at PW&WCBA 2012 was "Agile Essentials: People Planning, and Product Practices" with Ellen Gottesdiener, Founder, Principal Consultant, EBG Consulting, Inc.

At one point during this session Gottesdiener briefed our audience on some of the essential components of Scrum Methodology such as:

1. Product Backlog – The backlog consists of pieces of the overall product. The product backlog is always changing according to customer requirements. The product champion prioritizes the backlog for the team.

2. Sprint Backlog - The spring backlog is the objectives of the current sprint. This backlog is created by the team as a whole and is fixed once the sprint begins.

3. Sprint – The sprint is a short time period in which the team focuses on the sprint backlog which contains small pieces of the overall product backlog. The sprint produces a working iteration of the final product. Any items not finished during the sprint go back into the product backlog to be finished at another time.

But if you (or the stakeholders that you need to convince) are new to Scrum Methodology you may find yourself struggling with the terminology and jargon. In our 2012 executive summary, author Victor A. Lopez wrote the following, and I think it's an important, simple selling point for Scrum:

"The Scrum methodology allows teams to break down the product into small, manageable pieces instead of being intimidated by the larger puzzle."

Looking at the jigsaw photo above, you couldn't say what the end result will look like, and you might find it quite challenging to try and assemble the puzzle. Many would give up without giving it a shot, and others would get frustrated without guidance after the first attempt.

Using a methodology such as scrum helps all the moving pieces of your project puzzle fall into place. In Scrum, the product champion can see the big picture and prioritize tasks for the team, just as you may choose to, say, assemble the edges of the puzzle first.

We'll be publishing insights from attendees of this year's PW&WCBA event over the next several weeks. Would you like to share your thoughts or this session or any others? Email them to Michelle LeBlanc at mleblanc@iirusa.com.

The Anatomy of PW&WCBA

Did you attend PW&WCBA this year? If so, you may recall conference producer Rachel McDonald opening up the first main day with this presentation breaking down the makeup of the PW&WCBA community, if not give it a look now:

 

PW&WCBA Opening presentation 2012 from Michelle LeBlanc

This year's event featured: 
A more global focus than ever before
Content you can trust including all new keynotes & illustrations of complex project execution
24+ hours of (structured) networking

Attendees hailed from industries from Aerospace to Tourism and everything in between

55% of attendees self-identified at Project Management Professionals &30% identified as Business Analysts.

We can't wait to see how it will grow and change for 2013!

We'll be publishing insights from attendees of this year's PW&WCBA event over the next several weeks. Would you like to share your thoughts? Email them to Michelle LeBlanc at mleblanc@iirusa.com.

CALL FOR PRESENTERS: ProjectWorld® & World Congress for Business Analysts® On-Demand Web Seminar Series

INDUSTRY ALERT: OFFICIAL CALL FOR PRESENTERS

Papers are being accepted on a rolling basis, we suggest you submit your proposal as early as possible. The Institute for International Research (IIR) is currently seeking experienced facilitators and consultants to present virtually as part of our ongoing year-round education series for our ProjectWorld® & World Congress for Business Analysts® attendees.

About this unique event:
PW&WCBA is the industry's year round resource for project, program and portfolio managers and business analysts who wish to move beyond the fundamentals and learn leadership, strategy and enterprise-wide information in order to be more valuable for their organization.

Who and what are we looking for?

We are seeking experienced corporate practitioners, consultants, industry experts or solutions providers to lead a web seminar, 60 minute presentation inclusive of Q&A, to share new approaches and techniques our attendees can implement immediately. Web seminars will take place from October - December 2012. Priority will be given to proposals that highlight NEW case studies on pushing beyond the PMBOK and BABOK, presenting new skills, techniques and best practices for today's PM and BA worlds.

We expect our speakers to move beyond the fundamentals.

Presentation Topic Areas include, but are not limited to:

• Agile Methodology
• Managing Stakeholders Expectations
• Collaboration
• Enterprise Business Analyst Responsibilities
• Mind Mapping
• Enterprise Business Analyst Integration in the Business
• Facilitation Skills - PowerPoint & Story Writing
• Critical Chain
• Managing Virtual Teams
• What a BA Needs to Know About IT
• Portfolio Management
• Moving from a Manager to a Leader
• Motivating Teams & Increasing Team Performance
• Building an Excellence Center
• Risk Management
• Enterprise Architecture

BONUS: In addition to the exposure and honor of being part of our "on-demand" web seminar series, you will also receive FREE admission to the 2013 PW&WCBA conference ($3,000+ value).

CALL FOR PRESENTERS:

For consideration, please e-mail rmcdonald@iirusa.com with the following information by Friday, October 26, 2012:
• Proposed speaker name, job title, and company name
• Contact information including address, telephone and e-mail
• Title of Presentation (one line, benefit focused)
• A brief summary of content to be delivered (no more than 75 words), followed by 3 bullet points of what the audience will gain from your presentation (key audience takeaways)
• Short bio of speaker (50-75 words)
• Speaker's high resolution headshot (optional)

Additional Details:
• Commercialism and self-promotion are NOT permitted or tolerated. If this happens, you will NOT be invited to return, your complimentary pass to PW&WCBA 2013 will be revoked and your web seminar will not be a part of our "on-demand" library.

Thank you for your interest in PW&WCBA. Please visit www.projectworld.com for more information.

PWWCBA 2012 in Photos

From paying a brief visit to Epcot Center, to book signings and networking galore PW&WCBA 2012 was a whirlwind of learning, inspiration and making new connections. From big picture ideas to project-specific case studies, our three days in Florida ran the PM & BA gamut.

Check out our photos for a glimpse of the action:

 

We'll be publishing insights from attendees of this year's PW&WCBA event over the next several weeks. Would you like to share your thoughts? Email them to Michelle LeBlanc at mleblanc@iirusa.com.

It's Your Career, Drive It Like You Stole It

We'll be publishing insights from attendees of this year's PW&WCBA event over the next several weeks. Would you like to share your thoughts? Email them to Michelle LeBlanc at mleblanc@iirusa.com.

Chuck Millhollan, It is your Career, Drive It Like You Stole It written by Demetrios Plessias

Chuck Millhollan spoke about how to lead your career to a better today and future. He compared a used broken down car idling by versus a muscle car as what your career could be compared to by others. He stated how it is important not to get led off the path of your career. He provided the following insight as food for thought.

- Know what your worth.
- Know your next position and plan for it.
- If you were going to show off your career, what would you show?

Statistics were given that 9% of jobs are found on-line while 75% of jobs are found due to networking. Chuck expressed the importance on not being invisible and to take advantage of social media sites and networking events. He expressed that your network is only as good as what you put into it. Your career is a large part of your self-worth therefore it should be maintained through knowledge sharing, obtaining certifications/licenses as well as keeping up with the latest innovations.

To add my personal thought to this session, I really enjoyed this session since Chuck made it interactive for all but the most I got out of it was that Chuck made me realize that one should not lose track on the development of their career even though it is very easy to be bumped off track. I have now developed a plan that would give my career the upgrade that it deserves. Thanks Chuck for the jump start.

Demetrios Plessias is a project manager for WSP Flack + Kurtz which is a consulting Engineering firm in NYC. He can be reached at demetrios.plessias@wspfk.com

New Frontiers in PM: Creating High Performing Team

We'll be publishing insights from attendees of this year's PW&WCBA event over the next several weeks. Would you like to share your thoughts? Email them to Michelle LeBlanc at mleblanc@iirusa.com.

Silvanus David provided a South African view on how to create a high performing team. The video shown of the cheetah, gazelle and the project manager is a unique way to indicate how important a project manager needs to be prepared for everyday challenges and possible risks.

As a professional in his field, to create a high performing team the following are a few items that are needed:
- Know your teams strength and weakness
- Team building
- develop as a single unit by knowledge sharing
- Treat team members as people and not as a resource object

Silvanus David discussed that demonstrating leadership within a team shows character. Being proactive not reactive are traits of a true leader. Leadership is earned and not bestowed. Believe in the capabilities of the team and increase their weakness. A high performing team creates value which leads to innovation. Give praise to the team by taking time out to acknowledge their effort and support.

As a follow up to this conference session, I went back to the office with a renewed vigor to sit with my team members, re-enforce team sharing as well as develop new ways to continue the development of my team with some of the ideas that Silvanus and I discussed. Thanks Silvanus for your professionalism and ideas.

Demetrios Plessias is a project manager for WSP Flack + Kurtz which is a consulting Engineering firm in NYC. He can be reached at demetrios.plessias@wspfk.com

Virtual Tool Time at #PWWCBA

The final afternoon at PW&WCBA allowed us to fill up our PM & BA toolboxes with some new ideas.

James Franklin, P.E., PMP, Project Manager, Shaw Environmental & Infrastructure gave several examples of PM uses for mind mapping, including building a presentation or PMP study guide.A mind map is a diagram, used to represent word or ideas graphically and can be used for improving brainstorming, collaboration or creating content. By creating these documents using mind mapping software teams can improve collaboration and prevent the rework of having to manually create diagrams or documents.

In "Realizing the Full Potential of the Virtual Team" we learned that a higher level of early organization is correlated to a direct positive impact on the team's productivity, quality & interaction.  In addition to this, in a virtual team you need to be explicit and transparent throughout the project, providing self-service information that is available at all times.

Anyone can be trained to work virtually, but it involves a different skill set than co-located teams (an ability to ask questions and clarify and work independently, amongst others). Communication skills can pose a challenge on any team, but in a virtual team the problem can be exacerbated as modes of communication are removed and communication is often not real-time.

Lindsay Chamberlain suggests several tools for better managing a virtual team:
- Create a team charter that includes information such as expected review/lag times,  scheduling conflicts
- A workload and priorities log to track
- Virtual meeting technologies that prevent confusing conference calls (however, using computer-mediated communication every single time will lower effectiveness, aim for 10% or more person-to-person communication using face-to-face, webcam, or voice-to-voice)
- Regular communication of the vision and goals
- Determine training needs and comfort with virtual environments as soon as possible (first month)
- Open conversations about the virtual environment
- Avoid unintentionally privileging co-located team members

Lastly, Maryann Burns, Senior Project Director, The Travelers Companies, Inc asked "Are your PM Tools Keeping up with the Latest Innovations, Trends and Techniques?" Saying, to know what tool you need, you need to first look at what your purpose is (both today and for the future).  First conduct a current tools assessment and report findings, then design guideposts and develop a road map for implementation.


 Michelle LeBlanc is a Social Media Strategist at IIR USA and the voice behind the @Project_World twitter. She may be reached at mleblanc@iirusa.com 

#PWWCBA Live: Complex Projects

Our second two keynote sessions of the morning were Jim Durkin, SVP, WTC Transportation Hub, Tishman Construction Corporation and Connie Steward, SVP Human Resources & Organizational Development and Lysa Ratliff, Senior Director Cause Marketing and Partner Communications of Habitat for Humanity International.

Jim Durkin spoke on managing complexity and pointed out that complex project teams need to be able to manage: uncertainty, complexity, dynamic interfaces, significant external influences, extra risks that are difficult to quantify, on the spot decision making, prevention of scope creep and more.

In the WTC project (which is actually 8 separate projects) all of these come into play. The organization needs to track literally every piece of steel used from the time it is fabricated and meet various external milestones. The WTC Transportation Hub had to deal with bidding out materials around the world, managing 40 contractors and unions and planning to accommodate over 100,000 passengers per day in the final structure. External influences also created need for various changes, which the project team stays on top of with constant, daily communication: a design change not coming in on time could hold up over 1,000 people working in the field.


Connie Steward and Lysa Ratliff spoke about developing leaders for complex projects. Boundaries of race, culture, gender and more are challenges on Habitat for Humanity projects, build teams may not share a similar language, but these are not the boundaries that are the hardest for leaders in the organization, rather it often comes down to loyalty, respect and trust.

To be a successful leader, focus on processes, relationships & results. Having a common goal, trust and shared accountability will leave you ahead of the game.

Ratliff discussed the shift from managing a project to leading a project and shared the following lessons:
Create the culture first, build an environment of trust.
Get over yourself, it's about others.
Plan for contingencies, but learn to adapt and problem solve.
Focus on details, but don't get lost in them.

Michelle LeBlanc is a Social Media Strategist at IIR USA and the voice behind the @Project_World twitter. She may be reached at mleblanc@iirusa.com 

#PWWCBA Live: "Race Pace" and Collaboration

Don Mann, Former Member, Seal Team Six started off our final morning at PW&WCBA with some insights from his time with Seal Team Six and as a competitive athlete.

Don Mann signing books at PW&WCBA

Here are some of my key takeaways that can apply to the project management and business analysis world:

- be the quiet professional
- when a new member joins the team, your job is to train him to take over for you when you leave
- be confident and competent, but you won't be an expert in everything. Rely on subject matter experts
- Break macro goals up into micro goals
- Step out of your comfort zone and "train at race pace" (give it all you've got at all times)

Up next, Fredrick Redd, PMP, Director, Project Management Office, Port Authority and New Jersey Transit talked to us about "Developing & Leading an Innovative Approach to Creative, Forward-Looking Collaboration." Port Authority and New Jersey Transitis currently at a crossroads, having been in existence since 1875, there is a need for more collaboration and ultimately innovation. Organizational silos, a culture that is resistant to change and communication issues stand in the way of this. Four primary improvements challenged these silos for better collaboration:

- Public Private Partnerships
   - Reduces delays by increasing efficiency
   - Risks are weighed during all phases for better management
- Integrated Capital Management System
   - Integrate stand alone systems for better transparency of data
   - Standardize process and simplify access to data
- Net Point Scheduling Software
  - Allows intuitive view of project schedule
- BIM 4D Modeling Software
  - Used to model projects such as the World Trade Center Transportation hub, this allows the team to visualize conflicts, design changes and more.

By better communication of vision and strategy and measurement of benefits and lessons learned through these programs, the organization is continuing to break down silos and is more open to new ideas. More than the technical innovations, this transformation has also come from more "soft skills" approaches: using cross-functional teams and a stage gate process PMO.

Michelle LeBlanc is a Social Media Strategist at IIR USA and the voice behind the @Project_World twitter. She may be reached at mleblanc@iirusa.com

#PWWCBA live: The biggest challenge to decision making? Risk.

Michael Thorn started his afternoon session at ProjectWorld discussing whole body decisions, which is to say, the following three inputs on which we base decisions:

Brain = Rational logic
Heart = Passion
Gut = Intuition (Lack of data and/or time)

Passionate, "heart" decisions may make us feel the best, but "brain" based decisions are the easiest to back up. Data analysis, mainly performed by lower level employees, is what is going to drive many professional decisions, but ultimately it may be upper level management who reviews the results and determines success.

Here are my key takeaways:

Decision making is what all workers do, and what steers what the organization does.
Most organizations are good at doing analysis and investigation, but struggle with the "pivot point" of actually making a decision.


Ultimate criterion: does the decision create a positive outcome for the person and/or organization?

For effective decision making: consider alternate approaches and scenarios, assign (or accept) accountability for decisions, and communicate, communicate, communicate.

You can follow the 40-80 rule when timing is important: you need at least 40% off the data, but don't need to wait for all data to be available, make a decision with 80% of the data.

The biggest challenge to decision making? Risk. 
Risk management can help with this:
Identify what could go wrong, assign a probability of occurrence, and then determine the qualitative or quantitative impact. Mitigation  of these impacts is where you start making decisions. Knowing you have an ability to compensate for these risks (such as a project management contingency fund) may lead to more willingness to take risks.
Risk management is not a tool, it is a process of identification, analysis, control & measurement of outcomes that has to be carried out throughout the project to the very end.
Focus on the drivers & critical factors
Nothing replaces project knowledge and nothing replaces your judgement

Michelle LeBlanc is a Social Media Strategist at IIR USA and the voice behind the @Project_World twitter. She may be reached at mleblanc@iirusa.com